Faith and Hearing

We know from Hebrews 11:6, that “…without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” We also know where this faith that we must have in order to please God must ultimately come from: “…faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Ro. 10:17). The meaning of this text is quite clear to all. It simply shows that our faith is born, bred, and brought to maturity as we explore, experience, and are exposed to God’s word. It is the seed bed from which our faith is born, or, where our faith comes from.

Consequently, it is also true therefore, that because our God-pleasing faith comes from hearing and doing what we discover within the word of God, that anything that is NOT found within the word of God, CANNOT be said to be done as a part of true, God-pleasing faith. In fact, the bible clearly confirms this timeless and God-taught truth as well in Romans 14:23, wherein it states that, “whatever is not from faith is sin.”

To state it simply then: Faith comes by hearing the word of God. Whatever is not of faith, is sin.  Therefore, whatever is not found within the word of God, can never be said to have been done by faith (at least not faith in God), but is actually sin, according to God!

Why is it so eternally and critically important that we point this out to people? Simple. God stated very clearly and concisely, in 8 N. T. passages, exactly the type of music He wanted His N. T. church to offer up to Him in praise and worship. In every single case, it is simply and exclusively singing: vocal, non-instrumental, acappella music (Matt. 26:30; Mk. 14:26; Acts 16:25; Ro. 15:9; I Cor. 14:15; Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16; Hebs. 2:12; Jms. 5:13). This is what we find in the word of God. Therefore, this can be done by faith. Instrumental music in the N.T. church however, cannot be found anywhere in the bible, not once, ever. The best and brightest proponents of instrumental worship music have sought to find such a verse in the N. T. for hundreds of years… and have all been utterly and abjectly unsuccessful. Therefore, instrumental worship music cannot ever be performed by faith in what God said, simply because God never once said we should use it in the N. T. church! It is therefore instead, nothing more than a vain and useless, man-made tradition (Mk. 7:1-13).

Tragically, the same can be said when it comes to the “Greatest Hoax in the History of Religious Doctrine” as well. Sadly, many millions of good, but biblically uninformed and therefore misled religious people today, wholeheartedly believe and claim to have been saved when they “put their faith in Jesus” and said the so-called “Sinner’s Prayer of Faith.” There’s only one problem with that. One monstrous, heinous and monumental, soul-searing and eternally-damnation-causing problem with that… In all of the thousands of conversions to Christ that we see recorded in the New Testament, that so-called “Sinner’s Prayer of Faith” is never, not once, not ever, seen; it’s never taught, preached, or practiced as even a peripheral element in any New Testament conversion account – ever. It is not in the bible. If it is, then please correct me. Please produce it. Please proudly and promptly supply the lost world with a “book, chapter, and verse” reference in God’s word as to where it’s located so all can see it. Please ask your denominational friends and neighbors to start having it referenced on the back of their denominational salvation tracts for a change – something we’ve never seen.

But they won’t, will they? They can’t can they? And we know why, don’t we? It’s not in there is it? It’s never found anywhere in any conversion account in the word of God. And we therefore know what that means, don’t we? If faith comes by hearing the word of God – and it does; and whatever is not of faith is sin – and it is, which means that whatever is not found in the word cannot be done by faith – which is therefore true… then that means that the so-called “Sinner’s Prayer of Faith,” is far more of the first part of that phrase than the latter; that is to say, that it is far more of a “Sin,” than anything done by “Faith!”

Don’t get me wrong, it may be done by “faith” alright, but it’s faith in the person who told you to say it, and not soul-saving, God-pleasing faith in the Lord Jesus – because He never did. I know. I once did the same. I once said the prayer. And I believed at that point I was “good to go” with God. But then someone loved me enough to show me the truth of God’s word on how to truly be saved “by faith.” How much do you love those you claim to? If you truly love them, then you must tell them.

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The End of Life is Sure

“The end is near for us”

Eccl. 11:8 – But if a man live many years, and rejoice in them all; yet let him remember the days of darkness ; for they shall be many. All that cometh is vanity. KJV

Some people may plan to live many years only to suddenly die. Indeed; death comes to all … No person can predict the years of their life; whether many or few. Consequently; each person must consider their eternal destiny. The wise person will listen to Solomon:

Eccl. 11:8 –10 … 8 But if a man live many years, and rejoice in them all; yet let him remember the days of darkness ; for they shall be many. All that cometh is vanity. 9 Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment. 10 Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh: for childhood and youth are vanity.  Eccl. 12:1 … Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shall say, I have no pleasure in

PREPARE TODAY

Heb. 9:27 – and as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: KJV

As the years of our life swiftly pass, I realize that life is very short. Many of the people I have known through the past years are no longer among the living. Many members of my immediate family are no longer among the living. The relentlessness of time and aging will eventually take everyone I know, including myself. We will all soon exit the land of the living. Many people fear death or are terribly insecure continually while they reside here on the earth.

SOME FACTS – 1 …Physical Life is Very Short –

Job 14:1-2  – 1 Man, that is born of a woman, is of few days, and full of trouble. 2 He cometh forth like  a flower, and is cut down: He fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not.  ASV

Psalms 103:15-16  15 As for man, his days are as grass; as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. 16  For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more.  ASV

SOME FACTS – 2 – Death is Sure…

Hebrews 9:27  And inasmuch as it is appointed unto men once to die, and after this (cometh)  judgment;  ASV

CONSIDER THIS:

We all, have an appointment with death some time in the future. Our appointment with death may be many years away, we have no way of knowing when or how our end will come. Since we do not know when or how our end will come we ought to examine the Bible evidence that tells us we will live again.

SOME FACTS – 3 – The Soul Will Survive…

Psalms 49:14-15 14 Like sheep they are laid in the grave; death shall feed on them; and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; and their beauty shall consume in the grave from their dwelling. 15 But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave: for he shall receive  me. Selah.

Eccl. 12:6-7 6 Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern. 7 Then shall the dust return to the earth  as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it. (KJV)

DO NOT DELAY; GET YOUR LIFE RIGHT WITH GOD “TODAY.”

Hebrews 9:27-28 – 27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:  

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Evidence & The Law of Rationality

Evidence and The Law of Rationality

The religion of Christ is unlike the many other religions in the world in that it purports to be a religion that is based in and upon actual historical events.  The Bible sets forth God as the One who literally is the historical origin of all things.  This Book gives a historical account of man’s creation, initial fellowship with God, and subsequent fall.  It tells about the destruction of the world by a global flood.  This Tome speaks of the historical figure Abraham, his family, and God’s relationship with them as His chosen people.  The Bible chronicles the development of this relationship in the growth of this family, their establishment as a nation, and their subsequent failures.   At the apex of its story, God Himself enters the world in the Person of Jesus and sets Him forth as the Christ.  His death, burial, and resurrection, become the central theme of God’s New Covenant with the world.

All of these events, the Bible sets forth to have occurred in history.  This makes these events subject to investigation and the process of reason.  In this respect, the religion of the Bible is rational – that is, one may reason about it much as he would reason about any other historical event.  Christianity in particular exhorts those who investigate it to reason correctly and honestly about the evidence, weigh it in the crucible of the human mind, and conclude that what it is setting forth is, in fact, God’s truth.

This is consistent with the Law of Rationality: one ought to justify his conclusions by adequate evidence.  Were an individual to simply give up on justifying his conclusions by evidence, then he may make quite literally anything the object of our devotion.  That is to say, if one is not going to justify his conclusions by adequate evidence, one may “conclude” anything he desires with no evidence at all to support it.  This is simple irrationality.  Under such a scenario, “conclusions” do not require evidence at all, and one is thus “justified” in drawing a myriad number of “conclusions” that may or may not be related at all to what actually happens in the real world.  If one wants to “conclude,” for example, that the moon is made of green cheese, one is “warranted” to believe such. [i]

In stark contrast to such thinking, the Bible declares, “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21).  It exhorts believers in its message to “give an answer,” or “make a defense” regarding those things that are believed as true (1 Peter 3:15).  The authors of the Bible assert that they did not follow “cunningly devised fables,” but were “eyewitnesses” of these events (2 Peter 1:16).  Moreover, they consistently set forth this evidence “explaining and proving” the facts undergirding their beliefs (Acts 17:3 ESV).  Those who doubted were given tangible evidence to assuage their doubts and foster belief (John 4:42, John 9:1-41, John 20:26-31).  Those who proclaimed these things were men and women willing to suffer and die in ardent support of their truthfulness.  Enemies who heard the message, and evaluated the evidence were convinced and converted (Acts 6:7, Acts 8:13, Acts 9:1-31).  What is clear, however, is that in each one of these opportunities, the law of rationality was being applied.  Men and women were seeking to justify their conclusions by adequate evidence, and they were given that evidence in abundance!

Those who today proclaim a Christianity eviscerated of the need for their conclusions to be warranted by evidence have abandoned one of Christianity’s fundamental truths.  They have substituted the genius of what it means to be Christian for the message of the remaining world religions, namely, that it doesn’t matter what you believe as long as you believe something –any old “belief” will do.  The gospel calls men to accept, first and foremost, the law of rationality, and thereby to draw only such conclusions as are warranted by the evidence.  The very resurrection of Jesus demands nothing less.  Without such a foundation, “we are of all men most pitable” (1 Corinthians 15:19).

[i] The words “justified,” “warranted,” and “conclude” are presented here in quotations because they become meaningless when evidence is not necessary to forming conclusions.

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Jesus Our High Standard

A mother and her small son were talking and as they talked, her son asked, “Mother, where did you live when Jesus was a boy?” The mother replied, “Why, I wasn’t alive then, son. Jesus lived a long time ago–‐ about 2,000 years ago.” The boy said, “Oh, I thought He lived when you were little. You always seem to be talking about Him.”

It is a wonderful thing to be known as someone who is always talking about Jesus. It is clear that the things we talk about the most are the things that are closest to our hearts. When we think about Jesus, we can talk about his birth. We can talk about his work or we can talk about the relationship he had with his disciples who walked with Him. But, one of the themes that stands out the most in regards to Jesus is that of his influence.

We all should know that true Christianity brings freedom. Jesus said, “to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free . . . If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” (John 8:31‐32, 36). Thus, Christ frees people from superstitions and the bondage of sin. It puts within them the desire and ability to live above sin. And so, through hearing, believing, and obeying the teaching of Christ, His disciples come to know the truth. They have been influenced by Christ greatly. And so, because of His influence, we can understand that to know the truth is not just to know facts. It is to put into practice that truth.

Truly, Jesus has influenced our world. From the Bible we learn that Jesus raised women to new heights of respect and to honor your mother (John 19:26‐27). In Luke 7:36‐39, it tells of a woman who came and anointed the feet of Jesus in which He impacted her life. In Acts 8‐9, Saul of Tarsus was the chief persecutor of early Christians. He dragged people to prison. When they did not recant their faith, he was a party to their execution. But he had a dramatic encounter with the risen Christ on his way to Damascus and he was transformed from Saul, the enemy of Christianity, to Paul, the main propagator of its message. He let his position of prestige in Jewish society, to become a traveling missionary who experienced incredible suffering in order to share the love of Christ throughout the Roman empire. Jesus changed the life of so many and has greatly influenced the world. Thus, one of the highest standards of living in the world is to hear the Gospel preached and to be able to read, study and apply the Bible to our lives.

Throughout history, the influence Jesus had on the lives of people has never been surpassed. No other great leader has inspired so many positive changes in the lives of his followers. People who know about the risen Christ and yield to the will of His Father and baptized and arise to walk in a new life (Romans 6:3‐4). And so, their outlook on life is altered forever and staying true to their faith, they do not hesitate to face hardship. You know, many focus on themselves in the world. We are grateful to have a Savior who was not focused on Himself, but on you. How has he influenced your life?

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What is Repentance?

Repentance is what results when godly sorrow meets a godly response. It comes about when we change our attitude and our action toward sin. Thayer’s Bible Dictionary defines the Greek word for repent in this way, “To change one’s mind; to change one’s mind for better, heartily to amend with abhorrence of one’s past sins.”

Repentance is a life-changing event and it begins when sin in our life is pointed out to us by the gospel. When we are convicted in our hearts of that sin, we are made sorrowful. This is Godly sorrow. “For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of…” (2 Corinthians 7:10) Godly sorrow is what brings about the desire for change and the proper actions that demonstrate that change in our lives.

In contrast to Godly sorrow, worldly sorrow “worketh death” (2 Corinthians 7:10) and comes about not as a response to the gospel, but as a response brought on by the consequences of sin. Worldly sorrow results when a person “gets caught” or is made to suffer the consequences of his sin. Only when the consequences become severe enough does worldly sorrow lead one to change his life. This model of repentance does not reflect a positive response to the gospel but a negative response to stimuli, not unlike a cow being shocked with an electric cattle prod. True repentance, on the other hand, can only come as a positive response to the gospel.

Repentance, along with faith can only be demonstrated by a positive response to the gospel. It is this positive response that “worketh salvation not to be repented of…” (2 Corinthians 7:10). We respond positively to the gospel when we confess Christ and submit ourselves to His will and are baptized. Once we have been baptized, we must continue to pattern our lives after the gospel. This is the “process” of repentance for the alien sinner, but what about repentance for the Christian? One who is already a Christian, when he commits sin, he must also repent. This is accomplished when his godly sorrow brings him back into contact with the blood of Christ, through admission of guilt and fervent prayer.

Simply changing our attitude and action toward sin and being immersed is not enough to affect true repentance. True repentance requires that amends or restitution be made. If we stole money from a person, in order to truly repent, we must do our best to make restitution and return the money. All right thinking people can plainly see the need to make restitution when it comes to theft, murder, or any other crime.

But often the same people that recognize this need for restitution regarding crime and punishment do not see a need when it comes to moral issues. When a man and woman who are not scripturally married are exposed to the gospel and godly sorrow results, some times they are told that they can “repent” without dissolving their unscriptural marriage. (See Matthew 19:3-9) But this type of “repentance” is not scriptural because it leaves out restitution. If a robber breaks into a man’s home, steals his TV, his DVD player and his wife and later repents, all can see that he must return the TV and DVD player. But when it comes to “wife stealing,” many people say that it is OK, because the robber was not a Christian at the time. Restitution is necessary every time our sin affects another person.

What about murderers? How can they make restitution? Can they bring back the one they killed? Sometimes full restitution is impossible. The Bible illustrates this in Ephesians 4:28 “Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.” The thief must stop his thieving ways; he must to find a way to make an honest living; and he must use what he earns to give to those in need. That is restitution – he is no longer a taker, he is now a giver.

This is exactly what John “The Immerser” was speaking of when he said, “Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance…” (Matthew 3:8) In other words, he was telling them to show or demonstrate their repentance by their works. Just as James challenged with regard to faith, “Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.” (James 2:18). John was saying to the scribes and Pharisees, “Show forth works that demonstrate your repentance!”

Have you repented, truly repented, of your sins?

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